Local residents support recommendations from Iraq Study Group

A high-level commission said Wednesday that President George W. Bush's policy in Iraq "is not working."

Kamesha Beaty, 15, of Anderson agrees.

"I don't (like) the war anyway because my two cousins are there," she said.

Ms. Beaty said her cousins are 26 and 29 years old, have been in Iraq for several months and aren't able to spend the holidays with their families.

The Iraq Study Group's report warns against either a precipitous pullback or an open-ended commitment to a large deployment of troops. The commission recommended the number of U.S. troops embedded to train Iraqis should increase dramatically, from the 3,000 to 4,000 currently deployed up to 10,000 to 20,000.

Increasing that number is a good idea, according to Clarissa Clinkscales, 30, of Anderson.

"I do not believe that they should pull out all at once," she said.

Curran Glenn, 24, of Anderson said if troops withdraw too early, it would make it pointless for troops to have ever gone there.

"We should have some kind of a number of troops over there because until we know that they are 100 percent set up in their diplomatic format … if we withdraw, there will be a lot of chaos," he said.

Jeff Hook, 43, of Anderson agreed with the commission in that an attempt should be made to stabilize Iraq and allow the withdrawal of most U.S. combat troops by early 2008.

"Too many people are dying," he said. "That just can't be the solution."

But U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett, R-S.C., said in spite of mistakes or changes in tactics, people shouldn't forget the reasons for the war.

"This war is not just about the future of Iraq," Rep. Barrett stated. "We are truly in the midst of a global war on terror — a battle of good versus evil."

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said the nation needs to be united around the idea that winning in Iraq would make the United States stronger.

"However if that proves to be impossible, I would rather our nation be divided behind a winning strategy than united behind a losing one," Sen. Graham stated.

The Associated Press and Anderson Independent-Mail reporter Heidi Cenac contributed to this story.